Eight
weeks after its launch on December 20 (PST) from Vandenberg Air Force
Base in California, the Korean Multipurpose Satellite (KOMPSAT) has
started sending science data to its ground station in Taejon, Korea.
KOMPSAT, known in Korea as Arrirang I, is in a 685 kilometer,
sun-synchronous orbit at 98 degrees to the Earth’s equatorial plane.
Developed by Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and
Korean industry jointly with TRW Inc., KOMPSAT is carrying three
science instruments. These include two instruments built by TRW for
remote sensing applications and a space physics instrument package
built by the Korean Advanced Institute of Space & Technology for
characterizing the space environment.
“We are pleased with the performance of the instruments and the
spacecraft,” said Dr. Jang-Soo Ryoo, vice president, KARI. “Data from
the remote sensing instruments will help us to gain a better
understanding of the Korean peninsula and the oceans surrounding
Korea, while the space physics data will help us to understand the
effects of space on electronic components.”
KOMPSAT’s primary payload instrument is an electro-optical camera
(EOC), which has started to provide images for the production of
digital elevation models of the Korean peninsula. The models will be
used for topographical disciplines, such as land development planning,
monitoring floods, avalanches and landslides, archaeological surveys
and hydrological studies. The EOC is a pan-chromatic camera with 6.6
meter resolution.
The second instrument is an ocean scanning multispectral imager
(OSMI). OSMI data will be applied to biological oceanography, such as
the detection of red tides, producing a fish finding map and tracking
global changes resulting from pollution, studying land vegetation and
monitoring sea fog and yellow sand in the Yellow Sea around Korea.
OSMI has six spectral bands and one kilometer resolution.
Both the EOC and OSMI are the latest in TRW’s line of air- and
space-borne electro-optical instruments to go on orbit.
In addition, KOMPSAT is carrying a space physics sensor that
includes a high-energy particle detector and an ionosphere measurement
sensor. These instruments will enhance the understanding of how the
space environment affects microelectronics and spacecraft.
KOMPSAT is based on the TRW family of lightweight spacecraft, a
series of modular satellite whose design is readily tailored to
mission specific requirements. This family includes the Total Ozone
Mapping Spectrometer-Earth Probe and the Republic of China
Satellite-1.
The KOMPSAT program consists of two satellites. A protoflight
model was built in TRW’s California manufacturing facility, and the
flight model was built by KARI with assistance from TRW at its Taejon
facility.
TRW Space & Electronics Group builds communications, scientific
and defense spacecraft for military, civil and commercial customers;
produces, integrates and tests payloads; develops advanced space
instruments; and integrates experiments into spacecraft. It is an
operating unit of TRW Inc., which provides advanced technology
products and services for the global automotive, aerospace and
information systems markets. TRW’s Web site is at www.trw.com.
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